Oregon State ranked in preseason coaches’ poll, UConn leads the Top 25

The USA Today Sports preseason Top 25 Coaches’ Poll was released Monday. Oregon State finished the 2013-14 season at No. 25 and finds itself back in the mix to open this year. The Beavers, who returned all five starters, are ranked No. 21.

UConn, the two-time defending NCAA champion, is the unanimous No. 1 choice, as in the AP poll released last week. No. 6 Stanford is the highest ranked Pac-12 school with Cal (14) and UCLA (23) being the others breaking into the rankings. UCLA finished last season at 13-18 and was not ranked while Cal wrapped the season at the No. 20 slot.

Gonzaga dropped out of the rankings but did receive 17 points in the coaches’ vote. Of the Pac-12 schools, Oregon (eight points), USC (seven) and Arizona State (two) were given consideration for the preseason poll.

The USA Today Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.